Bihar floods: Govt pegs losses at ₹3,764 cr

So far, the floods in Bihar have affected a population of nearly 15 lakh in 359 panchayats across 73 blocks of 13 districts.

The central government’s team, led by Rakesh Kumar Singh, joint secretary of the Union ministry of home affairs, carried out a field visit to Bhagalpur and Naugachhiya areas of Patna to assess the damages due to the floods in the light of the state government’s claim for compensation.

People wade through a flooded area due to heavy rains in Begusarai, Bihar. (ANI)

On Monday, officials of the Bihar government made a formal claim for compensation worth ₹3,764 crore in lieu of damages caused by the ongoing spell of floods. Additional chief secretary, disaster management department (DMD), Pratyay Amrit, while making the presentation before the Central team, said that scale of damages could go up as the natural calamity wasn’t over yet.

The central team earlier made an aerial survey of Darbhanga, Samastipur and Muzaffarpur districts and held meeting with the officials of concerned districts in Darbhanga to assess the scale of damages.

So far, the floods have affected a population of nearly 15 lakh in 359 panchayats across 73 blocks of 13 districts. At least 53 people have lost their lives due to the floods in different districts.

During the presentation before the Central team, the state officials said that the water resources department suffered the maximum damages, amounting to ₹1470 crore, followed by the DMD ( ₹1,165 crore) and agriculture department ( ₹661crore).

The rural works department suffered a loss of ₹235 crore due to damages to roads and bridges in rural areas, while the road construction department assessed its loss of ₹203 crore owing to the floods, which started in June this year.

Last year, the state government estimated its losses to be around ₹3,328.60 crore, in which a population of over 83.62 lakh living in 1,333 panchayats of 16 districts were hit. Over 100 people had lost their lives in 2020. Officials claimed that the Central government had offered nearly ₹1,255 crore against the claim.

Additional chief secretary, roads, Amrit Lal Meena said that the state had presented its claims of losses due to natural calamity before the Central team. “We hope that the Central government would provide adequate financial support for the purpose. Additionally, the department has allocated necessary fund to carry out repair works to restore normal traffic on various roads,” said Meena.